Despite advances in information technology and process streamlining with respect to travel arrangements, the modem traveler is often subjected to unnecessary delays, petty inconveniences, and oppressive paperwork. These travel burdens are most evident in the airline, hotel, and rental car industries, where arranging and paying for services and accommodations can involve significant time delays due to miscommunication, poor record-keeping, and a host of other administrative inefficiencies.
Smartcard technology, as described below, has had limited success in addressing some of these problems. The term "smartcard" refers generally to wallet-sized or smaller cards incorporating a microprocessor or microcontroller to store and manage data within the card. More complex than magnetic-stripe and stored-value cards, smartcards are characterized by sophisticated memory management and security features. A typical smartcard includes a microcontroller embedded within the card plastic which is electrically connected to an array of external contacts provided on the card exterior. A smartcard microcontroller generally includes an electrically-erasable and programmable read only memory (EEPROM) for storing user data, random access memory (RAM) for scratch storage, and read only memory (ROM) for storing the card operating system. Relatively simple microcontrollers are adequate to control these functions. Thus, it is not unusual for smartcards to utilize 8-bit, 5 MHZ microcontrollers with about 8K of EEPROM memory (for example, the Motorola 6805 or Intel 8051 microcontrollers).
A number of standards have been developed to address general aspects of integrated circuit cards, e.g.: ISO 7816-1, Part 1. Physical characteristics (1987); ISO 7816-2, Part 2: Dimensions and location of the contacts (1988); ISO 7816-3, Part 3: Electronic signals and transmission protocols (1989, Amd. 1 1992, Amd. 2 1994); ISO 7816-4, Part 4: Inter-industry commands for interchange (1995); ISO 7816-5, Part 5: Numbering system and registration procedure for application identifiers (1994, Amd. 1 1995); ISO/IEC DIS 7816-6, Inter-industry data elements (1995); ISO/IEC WD 7816-7, Part 7: Enhanced inter-industry commands (1995); and ISO/IEC WD 7816-8, Part 8: Inter-industry security architecture (1995). These standards are hereby incorporated by reference. Furthermore, general information regarding magnetic stripe cards and chip cards can be found in a number of standard texts, e.g., Zoreda & Oton, SMART CARDS(1994), and Rankl & Effing, SMART CARDS HANDBOOK (1997), the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Various attempts have been made to alleviate travel-related inconveniences through the use of smartcard technology. In 1995, for example, the U.S. airline industry led an effort to reduce ticket distribution costs by developing standards for "ticketless travel."Soon thereafter, a joint conference of IATA and ATA adopted a set of specifications entitled Specifications for Airline Industry Integrated Circuit Cards (hereinafter, "IATA standard"). Similarly, in the field of financial payment systems, a standard has been developed entitled EMV Version 2.0, Integrated Circuit Card Specificationsfor Payment Systems, Parts 1-3 (1995). Both of these specifications are hereby incorporated by reference.
Notwithstanding widespread promulgation of these standards, smartcard efforts tend to remain fragmented, and the resultant benefit to consumers--particularly consumers who travel--has been quite minimal. One recent study estimates that approximately nine million smartcards were issued in the transportation and travel industry in 1996, yet, for the most part, these cards remain incompatible; that is, due to differing file structures and/or communication protocols employed, card data typically can not easily be shared across applications or between industry participants.
Systems and methods are therefore needed in order to overcome these and other shortcomings in the prior art.